Belonging
by theshorterstory
Summary: Major spoilers for 2x16 - 'Original Songs'. Faberry one-shot.  Quinn just wants Rachel to succeed where she can't.


_A/N: I'm sure that there are tons of stories very similar to this after the insanity that was 'Original Songs', but it inspired me, so I had to do it..._

**Belonging**

Her eyes are wide with hurt, and you can see she's biting back tears. She looks at you, _really_ looks at you, and you know you have to keep going. It's the only way to make her see.

"Why are you being so _mean_?" She asks you brokenly, finally looking down at the piano she's resting her hands on. You also look down, at the black and white keys beneath your fingers and steel yourself for a second. This is going to hurt both of you, but you have to do it. So you take a breath and stand, move towards her.

You stop, faltering, and another shaky breath is drawn. She's not looking at you any more, her eyes cast firmly downwards, towards the empty seats of the auditorium. Her arms are crossed, stubbornly. She's still trying not to cry.

"Do you want to know how this story plays out?" You ask her, softly. At least, you hope it comes out softly. You don't actually _want_ to hurt her this time, you never really did. You like to think that all the previous times you were cruel to her was just to help build her character. You know it's done that, but you also know you did it out of jealousy, not because you really cared. But now you do. You really do, and you want her to know that, but old habits die hard, right?

She makes it difficult to be nice to her, with her boisterous, bossy personality. Her loud voice and her arrogance, and her painfully obvious talent, and her unrelenting belief that _one day_ she will leave Lima far behind. But these days it seems her dream has changed, and all she thinks about is that stupid, lumbering _oaf_ of a boy by the name of 'Finn Hudson', and she doesn't talk about New York, or Broadway. She plots on how to get her ex-boyfriend back.

You know she's doing this because you're the _same_. Leaving Lima is looking more and more like a pipe dream every day she's shot down by her 'friends', because every time things seem to be looking up for her for once, everything gets taken away again. Why wouldn't her dream of making it on Broadway end the same way? Surely, it's less painful to not try. So instead, she's set her sights on an achievable goal.

_Get the boy_.

But you know that she's worth so much more than that. Rachel Berry is not destined to be a Lima Loser. Rachel 'Gold Star' Berry is destined to be _just that_. A gold star, shining brighter than everything else.

This is why you think you're the same. You both want _out_ so badly. You yourself are an honours student. You _could_ leave, but things have gone wrong for you too. You got pregnant, you got kicked off the cheerleading squad and therefore lost that scholarship. Your parents threw you out on the street for not living up to their expectations, for not being their 'perfect little girl' that you've always been. But you only made _one_ mistake. That was all it took.

Now it's easier to set your goals lower. Prom queen? _That's_ something you can get. You're resigned to your life in Lima now, and you just want _her_ to get it right. She deserves it. She's not as damaged as you are. So you tell her;

"_I_ get Finn. _You_ get heartbroken, and then Finn and I will stay here and start a family. I'll become a successful... real estate agent," The words you're saying make you sick to the stomach, because you don't _want_ that, but it's what's going to happen. You need to tell Rachel this, to make her realise what a life with Finn is. Nothing in comparison with what she could have.

"A-and Finn will take over Kurt's dad's tyre shop." She's looking at you again, and you can see the message is getting through, but _oh God_ how much it hurts to know Rachel Man-Hands Berry will have everything you can't have.

"You don't belong here, Rachel," Your voice is cracking, and now you're the one close to tears. Your words sound horrible. Bitchy, even, but you don't mean it that way. You're kind of bitter that she'll get it all, if she could just get her head out of her ass, anyway. But at the same time, you're painfully happy for the midget you've always been so willing to torture.

"And you can't hate me for helping to... send you on your way," You look down at her, and that fierce, stubborn look is there again. She shakes her head resolutely.

"I'm not gonna give up on Finn." You want to punch her in the face. But you don't tell her that, not this time.

However, your anger is still going to get the best of you, like it always does.

"It's not over betwe-"

"_Yes_, it _is_!" You snap at her. You feel your eyes go cold because she's so _stupid_ for not seeing how _worthless_ he is. Your hand slams on the piano.

"You're so frustrating! And _that_ is why you can't write a good song; because you live in this little school-girl fantasy of life. Rachel," You implore her, "if you _keep_ looking for that happy ending then you are _never_ gonna get it right." Things have gotten out of control very quickly, you realise. You've said enough. You've shown her you care, too much. You're supposed to hate her, and just push her in the right direction, not lay it all out on a platter for her. Albeit an angry, round-about platter, you've shown how you feel more than you ever have before. Certainly you seem to care more than the other glee club members do. You turn it around, you want to just get on with writing the stupid song now, distract her for a while, if you can.

"So, we're done with that, why don't we just return to our work, okay?" With horror, you realise that you've slipped right back into your Head-Bitch-in-Charge self, and it's making you feel funny, but you don't know how to stop it anymore. You throw yourself onto the piano stool, sighing heavily, trying to regain some composure, but it's not happening. Rachel is looking at you, again, and you feel so very small, and-

She's shaking her head again, and you think you've done it. That determination is back. You can only pray it's not to take Finn again, but to continue with her dream of stardom.

"No. I'm going to write this song on my own."

She leaves you there, alone in the huge auditorium, and you feel so empty.

There's a phrase that keeps popping to the surface of your mind. 'Be cruel to be kind'.


End file.
